Max Steel (2013 TV Series)
Max Steel (2013 TV Series), also known as Max Steel or Max Steel Reboot, is a Canadian animated series produced by Mattel Playground Productions, Nerd Corps Entertainment, and FremantleMedia. The series is loosely based on the 2000 series and the toy line of Mattel with the same name. The series premiered on March 25, 2013 and its first season aired on Disney XD. The show currently airs on KidsClick on the weekends. Plot Season 1 :Main article: Season 1 After moving to Copper Canyon, Maxwell McGrath discovers that he can generate large amounts of a powerful energy known as T.U.R.B.O. Energy. He is not capable of handling such power by himself, but he fortunately meets Steel, an alien technology known as Ultralink, who is capable of controlling this energy. When they "Ultralink", they turn into the superhero Max Steel, who will protect the world from dangerous villains and intergalactic invasions. Together, they want to discover more about their mysterious past that Max's uncle and mother refuses to talk about. Season 2 :Main article: Season 2 After getting few answers about their pasts, Max and Steel must face a new and deadly enemy known as Makino. As the leader of the Ultralinks race, he is programmed to conquer and destroy worlds. Besides fighting against old foes, Max and Steel will fight against new and more dangerous villains than ever and discover what kind of secrets Ferrus is trying to hide. Animated Films :Main article: Animated Films List of Episodes The series has a total of two seasons produced, with both having twenty-six episodes, which equal to fifty-two episodes. Each episode has twenty-two minutes. After the end of the second season, there were new films produced by Mattel. All films have forty-four minutes, with the exception of Team Turbo Fusion-Tek, which features sixty-six. Season 1 :See also: List of Season 1 Episodes #Come Together Part One #Come Together Part Two #Come Together Part Three #Cleaning House #Secret Identity Crisis #C.Y.T.R.O Attacks! #Hard Water #The Thrill of the Hunt #Extroyer Unleashed #Live by the Sword #Supermania #Uncle Sam Wants You! #Elements of Surprise Part One #Elements of Surprise Part Two #Driven #The Truth Hurts #The Secret Admirer #Scrambled #X Marks the Spot #Gone Fishin' #Making the Grade #Split Decisions #Pick Your Poison #Thanks, I Think #Earth Under Siege Part One #Earth Under Siege Part Two Season 2 :See also: List of Season 2 Episodes #Ultralink Invasion Part One #Ultralink Invasion Part Two #Dredd Ascendant #Toxic Relationship #Full Metal Racket #Animal Attraction #Turbo Deep Star Sea #The Ultralink Hunter #Digital Meltdown #Journey to the Center of Copper Canyon #Hot Zone #Lights, Camera, Max! #The Legend of Ja'em Mk'rah #Makino Strikes Part One #Makino Strikes Part Two #Got Turbo Star? #My Best Friend is an Ultralink #Me, Myself, and Extroyer #Definitely Fear the Reaper #Turbolt the Terrible #Reprogrammed #A Germ of an Idea #Fugitives #The Great Turbo Star Caper #The Final Countdown Part One #The Final Countdown Part Two Animated Films 2015 #Wrath of Makino #Dawn of Morphos #Maximum Morphos 2016 #Team Turbo #Team Turbo Fusion-Tek 2017 #Turbo-Charged #Turbo-Warriors Movies The first live-action movie was announced in 2009, when Paramount Pictures bought the film rights of Max Steel, with the director Joe Roth to produce it. However, when the reboot was announced, the film was suspended. In 2013, the movie rights of Max Steel had expired, and Mattel partnered with Dolphin Entertainment to finance the film. Christopher Yost was set to write the script while Stewart Hendler has been attached to direct. Mattel later revived the plans to produce the movie, and set Open Road Films to distribute the film later in 2014. Later, on 2015, Mattel announced new content, consisting in more than 800 minutes of entertainment, that aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Max Steel was between the content, featuring three new movies: Max Steel: The Dawn of Morphos, Max Steel: The Wrath of Makino, and Max Steel: Maximum Morphos, each having 44 minutes. So far, the movies only aired on Latin America, unlike other films announced by Mattel. In October 2015, Mattel announced again their new content for 2016. Two more movies were announced, being those Max Steel: Team Turbo-Tek and Max Steel: Team Turbo Fusion-Tek. Development Merchandise :Featured article: Action Figures In addition to the animated series and games,'' Max Steel'' features a toy line of action figures featuring 40 or more different models relased per year. It greatly differs from the original figures, as Max has a more youthful look and his size shrunk few inches, even though that these changes would be reverted years later. In Latin America, the toy line was initially divided in three sublines and the figures were quite different from the ones released in North America and other places, with the most notable difference being the size, paint application and articulation. The toy line was based on the show's arcs and story, but from 2016 and on, this becomes more evident. As mentioned earlier, the toy line was formerly divided into three sublines. In 2013, the line was divided in: Strength, Speed and Stealth, each being named after Max's Turbo Modes. In North America, the 6 inch toy line was released and contained approximatelly eight characters. Later on, the Rise of Elementor, based on the game with the same name, was released, but the toys were actually repaints from the ones released in Latin America, with few changes. Additionally, a subline known as Turbo Battlers was also released around the world, but they were eventually cancelled. In 2014, the toy line was divided once again on three sublines, being those: Aerial Invasion, Aqua Invasion and Land Invasion, all being based off on the events of the second season, marked by the Ultralink Invasion. The 6 inch toy line was again released in U.S.A. and the rest of the world, but this time the figures were more detailed, contained a variety of gimmicks and came with more accessories. In the mid of 2014, new action figures were released, this time being fully articulated and having more accessories, even though that the gimmicks were absent. In 2015, the toy line was divided into three sublines, being those: Battle-Tek, Connect-Tek and Transform-Tek. Each toy in their respective subline made a reference to its name, Battle-Tek included toys with heavy weaponry, Connect-Tek included toys with interchangeable accessories and Transform-Tek included toys with a transformation process. With the upcoming live action movie, Mattel released few action figures based on the characters. The figures were more realistic but they still had the same molds used in the TV series toys. There was also a upcoming toy line known as Ultra Turbo Battlers released in the beginning of the year, but they were cancelled alongside with other toys. In 2016, the toy line had the most notable changes in terms of sublines and toy designs. There is only one subline, which is Connect-Tek. A device with the same name was introduced in the series and had a very important role. Most of the toys were based on the Team Turbo and Team Turbo Fusion Tek movies released in 2016 and the packages included unique features to differentiate them from normal toys, such as the members of Team Turbo appearing the sides of the box and the logo in the front. In the mid of 2016, Mattel released new toys of the upcoming live action movie on UK. It is unknown if it was released in the rest of the world. In 2017, the toy line was divided in two sublines: Turbo-Charged and Turbo-Warriors, this time with the packaging being green, much similar to Max's past incarnation. The toy line has the same characteristics as the 2016 toy line, with little difference. Graphic Novels In 2013, Mattel made a partnership with VIZ Media. The result were three graphic novels released in 2013 and 2014 available only in USA, Canada, UK, New Zealand and Australia. The price of each graphic novel was $ 7.99 USD and were written by renowned artists and illustrators of the comic book world. *'The Parasites' *'Hero Overload' *'Haywire' Bonus Clips :Featured article: Bonus Clips Mattel made new bonus clips of the new TV series, each having 1 minutes and 30 seconds or less. Most of the bonus clips focuses in Max and Steel and their pastime or even adventures of the villains. In 2013, there were around twenty bonus clips made and the same quantity was made again in 2014, being more focused in Max fighting against new villains or the Ultralink invasion. No clips were made on 2015. In 2016, six mini episodes were made, each being divided into three parts having two minutes. They were only available on the official YouTube channel and came with some DVDs from the 2016 toy line. Short Film To promote the series, Mattel made a trailer mixing live action and animation starring Jayson Ziegenhagen and directed by Stephen Sommers, who worked in Transformers and GI Joe, among others. The special effects were in charge of the companies BUF Visual Efects who has been responsible for Thor, Green Lantern and Avatar's special effects. Games With the reboot, Mattel renewed everything on the site, including the games. There were eight games available on the site, and two that were exclusive for mobile devices. During 2014, McDonald's released eight toys based on Season 2, by scanning them, the person could unlock four different games. Reception :This section is under construction. You can help by expanding it. Initially the reboot concept arts weren't very well received by the public mainly because of the drastic changes on the story and designs, as well the realistic animation. After it aired on TV, Max Steel was very well received by the public. While the series had a good reception among others, the fan of the series strongly disliked the idea of Max Steel having a reboot and most of them hated the new series. Trivia *In a convention in 2014, a Mattel representant stated that they were interested in picking up a third season for the show. It is unknown if they were referring to full season with 26 episodes much like the first and the second, or the 2015 film trilogy. *The original Max Steel makes few cameos throughout the series, most notably as a toy or as the famous Hero-Man. *The fans of the old series strongly disliked the idea of the reboot and mobilized in social networks (most notably on Twitter) posting images against Mattel (including calling by names) and used the phrase "We don't wish a new Max Steel! Bring "our" Max Steel back!" with some toys of the old series posing with a small piece of paper. However, their efforts were in vain. *The series aired on Latin America first than other countries in the world. Category:TV Series Category:Season 1 Category:Season 2